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In this paper, we study the operational availability of a complex technical system consisting of several components. The components are subject to breakdowns, and hence for each component a limited number of spare parts are held in stock. If a system's component fails and cannot be replaced immediately, due to a lack of spares, the system becomes unavailable until a new component is installed. Failed components are condemned and hence, to keep the spare parts stock at an appropriate level, new components have to be purchased. We assume that only a limited annual budget is available for procurement, while furthermore procurement requires a considerable lead time. We investigate what budgets are needed to attain a target availability level for the system. In addition, we develop various operational strategies for spending the annual budget during each year. Numerical results indicate t.hat the so-called Balance Focussed St.rategy provides the best results in terms of system availability as a function of time.

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